Should taxpayers be paid back before bonuses are paid out?
While we look at the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds bank, and the potential billion pound payouts in staff bonuses, we should also consider the fact that the billions of pounds poured into the system as a whole have benefited all banking operations within the UK. As a consequence, there is a growing belief that taxpayers should be "paid back" before enormous salaries and bonuses are agreed with the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds bank and other banking operations. But is this feasible?
The truth is that those operating in the higher league of the UK banking system, especially the investment banking arena, are used to being rewarded for their endeavours. If the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds bank want to maintain the highest quality staff in the short, medium and longer term then they will need to funnel some of their funding into salaries and bonuses. It is very short-sighted to suggest that banks should be paying back taxpayers before rewarding their staff although in the current economic environment, with more and more taxpayers struggling to survive, it is easy to see why this belief is there.
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